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More info at http://hackersoffaplane.org
For Eris and Siviak's birthday we decided to go skydiving. We decided to go to Lake Elsinore and jump with Skydive Elsinore. I looked up their address, then checked out the views on Google Earth. They have their own private dirt runway and a large facility. You can even fly yourself in, then stay the night in their bunks.
Eris took care of the reservations, and we expected about 10 people to jump. The cost was around $210 apiece. Many of us met up at the shop on saturday morning then carpooled & caravanned out to the desert. It was only about an hours drive on a Saturday morning. We got there about 45 minutes ahead of our reservation time so we got to watch another group land. Even though it looks like they're coming down really fast, the parachute can flare at the end and slow down enough to have a really smooth landing.
So we went in and filled out our paperwork. The liability disclaimer they made everyone sign while they videotaped us was rather amusing. About half the contract was releasing them from things that the state of California specifically doesn't let you sign away. For example, they're not liable for the airworthiness of their plane. Right. They're also not liable for gross negligence. Nope, can't sign that one away either. It also specified that Florida laws applied, but that's not correct either, I don't think. The whole thing was pretty funny though, so we went ahead and signed. After that was a short instructional video, then they weighed us all to make sure we were within safe limits. Outside, we divided into two jump groups, I was in the first group so we went inside to get into our gear. The first group was me (Kallahar), Eris, Siviak, Israel Torres and J0ker rode in the copilot seat to take photos of us all.
Since it was so hot out, the plane took off with the rear door open. It was really nice when at around 7,000 feet the air really cooled down and it became a comfortable temperature. As we neared the jump altitude (12,600 above ground level) we shifted around in the plane and hooked on to our instructors. You really get strapped in tight, which is good, the tighter the better, you're about to jump out of a plane. I was towards the back, so people kept jumping out ahead of me. Every time someone leapt into nothingness the plane would gain about a foot of altitude, which was an interesting feeling. Moving towards the door and jumping went by really quickly. You know that feeling when you top a rollercoaster and head downhill? Jumping from a plane has NONE of that. You don't feel the acceleration either, and since you don't have any reference points you can't tell how fast you're going.
The freefall goes by pretty fast, it's about 6,000 feet over 60 seconds. At around 6,000 feet you get to pull the rip cord which deploys the chute. The opening is pretty rough, but it's spread out on your body so it's certainly not too bad. The ride down takes about 7 minutes and there's plenty of time to look around. The landing area looks extremely small from up there so I'm pretty amazed that they can land so accurately every time. Once the chute is safe the instructor unhooks the lower hooks and you hang just from your shoulders, which is more comfortable. The landing was really soft and we basically landed feet up and nearly standing still. Everyone in our group landed just fine.
Eris's video (avi, 26MB)
Israel's video (avi, 25MB)
Just after we landed, the next group was getting on the plane to take off. On that plane were my parents, Mojo, and some people from Eris's work with Courtney riding along as copilot. I took photos from the ground and got most of them landing. My dad was ecstatic, he'd been wanting to jump for a long time. After that we all hung out for a bit to calm down enough to be able to drive, then headed back to Orange County where we partied till 4am!
The next day Siviak and I went snorkeling at Laguna Beach with some other friends. We were the only two that went from 12,000 feet up to 15 feet under without a plane/submarine in about 24h :)
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